I need to take payments on my website

[Jamez]

Hey all,

I'm launching my money-making website within the next week or so, but before I do, I need to set-up an account which lets me take payments from customers and then deposits them into my bank account.

I know there are a multitude of companies such as PayPal, NoChex, CCBill etc. which do such transactions, but which one is the best for me?

The payments will vary from £5 - £500, but I need something that is fast, secure, deals in GBP and preferably lets me design and customise my payment page.

Also, I will need some help with coding on my website which automatically calculates totals (e.g. VAT & a word counter).

If anyone has any advice or help, it would be much appreiciated and there even might be a few quid in it for you!

[cdd]

If you're looking for completely "trobule-free" transactions, PayPal is for you. You can even set it up so that it just acts as a payments thing, and seems fully intergrated with your site. If you're determined, however, it's not the most profitable way, as they of course take commissions.
Good luck!

As to what you're doing -- a message/tagboard you have to pay to post to? Or a story/publication/document you have to pay to add to?

Anyway, regarding coding those are really simple. You'd want to go for something server-side at least for the processing. Decide what scripting you want to use and it'd be dead easy to sort out.

The calculation for adding VAT is Original Price + (Original Price * 0.175) - fairly literally translated into any coding language. A word count is best performed by counting the number of spaces and adding one. In javascript it would be text.indexOf(" ")+1.

[Nick Harvey]

If you're talking about adding VAT, you ARE all registered and set up, aren't you?

It's a bloody minefield.

If you need help, go into Portcullis House, 21 Cowbridge Road East. That's the business advice centre and they're not nearly as scary as you expect.

The national advice line is 08450 109000, or Portcullis House MIGHT still be 029 2038 6400.

Good luck.

[Jamez]

No, it's a voiceover website with a difference. Voiceovers will be written on the site, paid for and submitted all in one go. Saves both sides a lot of hassle.

Users (not just media companies/production houses) can enter the desired script into the box, the words will be counted and calculate the final amount due.

Ideally, scripts wouldn't be submitted without payment clearing first. Is there such a way to do this?

I'm good at designing and the more creative side of creating websites, but I'm totally crap at all the back-end stuff.

[Jamez]

If you're talking about adding VAT, you ARE all registered and set up, aren't you?

It's a bloody minefield.

If you need help, go into Portcullis House, 21 Cowbridge Road East. That's the business advice centre and they're not nearly as scary as you expect.

The national advice line is 08450 109000, or Portcullis House MIGHT still be 029 2038 6400.

Good luck.

Obviously I will have to register, and of course pay income tax on anything I earn over a certain amount.

It shouldn't be too tricky, surely?

[Nick Harvey]

Not too tricky, but CAN be a bit slow.

If you want to trade from 1st January 2006, get talking to them NOW.

[Sput]

I'm totally crap at all the back-end stuff.

*Not what I was told*

[Nick Harvey]

Oh, and go on a "cash accounting scheme", as they call them.

That way you're not liable to pay the VATman till you get the money, rather than at the moment you issue the invoice.

[Jamez]

Not too tricky, but CAN be a bit slow.

If you want to trade from 1st January 2006, get talking to them NOW.

*ahem*, so what's wrong with trading from the 1st November 2005?

Surely if a new business wants to start trading in say mid-February, they don't have to wait 11 months to start doing VAT returns?

[Nick Harvey]

No, it's just that it's illegal to add on VAT until you've got your VAT number to put on your invoices.

You try getting a nice, new VAT number out of Mr Revenue & Customs in under about three months.

Remember, they're Civil Servants, they run at only two speeds, dead slow or stop!

[Boughton]

To quote from: http://www.company-wizard.co.uk/guides/ ... ation.aspx

"VAT registration is only compulsory once the turnover of your company exceeds or is likely to exceed the government threshold of £60,000 (2005-2006) for any rolling 12 month period."

So, I really wouldn't bother doing it just yet - I don't think the hassle would be worth the VAT you could claim back on your company's own purchases.